Suction cleaner



April 18, 1933. H, H ER Y 1,904,974

SUCTION CLEANER Filed Dec. 17, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1.

I NVENTOR Howma 54R. #00 V67? ATTO RN EY H. E. HOOVER SUCTION CLEANERApril 18, 1933.

Filed Dec. 17, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR How/W0 [/ML H00 v5? JIMATTORNEY Patented Apr. 18, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HOWARD EARLHOOVER, or GLENcOE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNQR To THE HOOVER COMPANY,

OF NORTH CANTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO sUoTION CLEANER Applicationfiled December 17; 1931. Serial No. 581,569.

The present invention relates to suction cleaners and particularly toimprovements in suction cleaner construction adapted to increase theoperating effectiveness of the cleaner under all conditions and upon alltypes of surface coverings. More particularly the invention comprisesthe provision of a suction cleaner construction in which the nozzlemouth width is varied as the nozzle is raised or lowered relative to thesurface covering.

A suction cleaner must be adapted to operate upon surface coverings ofall types, weights and thicknesses.- Operating conditions upon thesedifferent types of coverings are quite different, and, in order toobtain the greatest cleaning efliciency, means should be provided in thecleaner to accommodate and compensatefor these differences. Consider anordinary rotary agitator suction cleaner provided with suction-creatingmeans and supporting means therefor, in use upon a light, and thereforeshort pile, covering. The supporting means for the cleaner, andparticularly the supporting means adjacent the nozzle, will sink onlyslightly intothe covering and will rest substantially upon the topthereof. With the machine in operation and the suction-creating meansdrawing air through the nozzle mouth a reduced pressure is created inthe nozzle which functions to lift the surface covering. If the coveringbe of the aforedescribed thin," light type it is necessary to lower-nthenozzle in order to bring it into operative relationship with thecovering. Means to raise and lower the nozzle mouth to accommodatedifferent types of surface coverings are old and well known in the priorart. It is also desirable, however, that a cleaner for use upon surfacecoverings which are relatively light, thin, and therefore usuallyflexible, should have a relatively narrow mouth in order to preventexcessive displacement of the covering within the mouth for, if thiscondition exists, the movement of the cleaner relative to the coveringwill be characterized by an excessive force requirement. One lip of thecleaner, depending upon the direction of cleaner movement,

will be attempting to .climb that portion of commodate the short pile,lightsurface covering function, when the cleaner is adjusted the rugwhich is humped or displaced within the month. In the cleanerconstructed in accordance' with the present invention means are providedwhich narrow the width of the nozzle mouth as the cleaner nozzle islowered for use upon thin, light coverings.

.With the cleaner in use upon a thick pile, soft and relatively heavysurface covering, the supporting means for the cleaner sink thereinto arelatively great distance. If the cleaner has previously been adjustedfor use upon a short pile, light covering, it is aparent that upon beingpositioned upon a.

ong pile, heavy coverlng the front of the nozzle will tend to dig intothe covering. It is absolutely necessary, if the cleaner be of. themodern type provided with rotary agitating means, that the nozzle bespaced from the rug surface in order that the covering may be liftedabove its supporting surface. According to the present invention thesame means which function to narrow the nozzle mouth when the nozzle waslowered to acfor use on a long, heavy pile surface covering,

to raise the nozzle and to increase its width. This increase in nozzlewidth gives greater lifting power to the cleaner as a greater suctionsurface is presented to' the, surface covering. The present inventionlies in the manner and means thruwhich a. suction cleaner is improved inOrder to accomplish the described functions.

It is an Object, therefore,'to provide a new and improved suctioncleaner. It is a fur-- ther object to provide in a suction cleaner,combination nozzle-height and nozzle-area varying means. A still furtherobject is the' provision in a suction cleaner, of means to raise andlower the nozzle and simultaneously widen or narrow the nozzle mouthwidth. Still another Object is the -provision ofa suction cleaner inwhich the nozzle width is variable with the nozzle height. A stillfurther object is the provision of manuall adjustable nozzle-height andnozzle-wid't controlling means in a suction cleaner. These and othermore specific objects will appear upon reading the followingspecification and claims and upon considering in connection therewiththe attached drawings.

present invention, the nozzle being shown in section upon the line 1--1of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the cleaner shown in Fig.1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a "suction cleaner embodying the presentinvention in modified form. V

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the embodiment shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a section upon the line 5-5 of Fig. 4. r

In the drawings, and in Figures 1 and 2 in particular, a; modern suctioncleaner is disclosed which comprises a motor casing 1, which houses adriving motor whichis not shown; a fan chamber 2, within which is thesuction-creating fan 3 driven by the motor within the casin'g 1; and 'anozzle 4 which is interiorly connected to the fan chamber 2-through thefan chamber inlet 5. A dust bag 6, is suitably connected to the exhaustoutlet of the fan chamber 2 and is adapted to receive the dirt-laden airwhich is ex hausted therefrom. A pivoted handle 7 is mounted upon themotor casing and is pro, vided with an arcuate sector 8 which ispositioned to cooperate with a spring-pressed plunger 9 to' secure thehandle in certain predetermined positions. The supporting means for thecleaner comprise spaced front wheels 10, 10 which are pivoted to thecleaner by means of the arms 11, 11. The rear supporting wheels 12, 12are 'rotatably mounted upon the transverse axle 13 which is itselfpivotally supported "upon the rear of the motor casing by the spacedarms 14, 14 carried by the pin 15 seated at the end of the bracket 16which is secured to the under side of the motor casing 1. Between eachof the front-wheel-supporting arms 11, 11 and the rear-supporting-wheelaxle 13 extend arms 17, 17 which positively provide for the synchronousadjustment of. all wheels, thereby insuring that the plane of the nozzlemouth will, at all times, be parallel to the surface -coveringundergoing cleaning regardless of the nozzle height. The adjustment ofthe cleaner nozzleheight, or viewed differently, the raising orloweringof the supporting wheels relative to the cleaner, isaccomplished at the rear of the machine where a U-shaped member 18 isconnected to the supporting axle 13 and is also pivoted to the pivotalpin 15 above which itlis provided with a toothed sector 19. A rotatablemember 20 is carried at the rear of the motor casing and is providedwith a portion formed as a spiral gear which line bearing the characterA.

Within the nozzle 4, as in the usual modern is adapted to mesh with thetoothed sector 19, there being provided knurled knob 21 by means ofwhich the member 20 may be rotated. The rotation of member 20, upon theapplication of a rotating force to the knurled knob 21, results in thepivotal movement of the U-shaped member 18 upwardly or downwardly,depending upon the direction of rotation of the member 20 which is inintermeshing relationship with the sector 19. Asthe U-shaped member 18is directly connected to the rear-wheel supporting axle 13, which isitself connected through the members 17, 17 to thefront-wheel-supporting members, it is obvious that upon the movement ofthe U-shaped member'18 the supporting wheels will be pivoted about,

their respective pivots resulting in the rais ing or lowering of themachine.

The nozzle 4 of the machine is provided with a front lip 22 which isrigidly secured in place in the operation of the machine. The rearnozzle lip, indicated by the reference character 23, is formed as thelower surface-contacting edge of the rear wall 24 which is pivoted, bymeans of pins 25, 25, to the nozzle end walls. At its upper edge therear wall 24 isprovided with a curved surface 26 I which lies upon acurve having the pin 25 at its center. A correspondingly curved section27 is formed upon the integral part of the nozzle 4 which extendsclosely adjacent, I

the section 26 and permits of the angular movement of the rear wallabout its pivot parent that as the arms 11, 11 are-pivoted upw wardlyordownwardly that the links 28, 28 will be moved forwardly or rearwardlyof the cleaner, resulting in the pivotalmovement of the wall. Themaximum nozzle width obtainable is indicated in Figure l by the linebearing the reference character B while the minimum width is indicatedby the suction cleaner, is provided a rotary agitator which is indicatedgenerally by the reference character 29. This agitator comprises rigidbeater members 30, 30 and brushes 31, 31 and has its rotative forcesupplied through the power-transmitting belt 32 which extends from theagitator to the pulley 33 positioned on the forwardly extended end ofthe motordriven fan within the nozzle 4.

Referring now to Figures 3 to 5, inclusive, a second modification of thepresent invention is disclosed. In the first modification the inventionwas embodied in a horizontalaxis-t upon which the fan is'mounted, as inthe usual cleaner of this type, extends in'o the air passageway 39 whereit is provided with a pulley 42. A pivoted handle 43 is provided whichis pivoted in the present in-- stance, to the fan casing 38. As in theaforedescribed embodiment a rotatable agitator 44, comprising beatingelements 45, 45 and brushes 46, 46, is positioned within thenozzle 37and is connected to the pulley 42 by means of a power-transmitting belt47 which extends within the air passageway 39. The '25 supporting wheelsfor the present machine comprise spaced front supporting wheels 48, 48positioned within wheel pockets formed in 'the main casing 36immediately in the rear of the nozzle proper. Wheels 48, 48 are mountedupon supporting arms 49,49 which are keyed to the rotatable shafts 50,50 carried by bearings51, 51 in the wheel pockets.

Therear supporting wheels 52, 52 are mounted upon the lower horizontallyextending portion of the L-shaped member 53 which is suitably connectedat its upper end to manually adjustable'means, indicated generallyby thereference character 54', which control its height relative to thecleaner. The horizontally extending portion of arm 53 is also pivotallymounted to the underside of the cleaner by means of a U-shaped bracket55 which is pivoted to a transversely extending pin 56 carried by frame57. To insure the synchronous adjustment of the front and rearsupporting wheels substantially horizontal arms 58, 58' extend betweenthe .horizontal portion of the L-shaped arm 53 and lever arms 59, 59which are rigidly carried by the rotatable'shafts 50, 50.

The undersideof the air passageway 39,

which extends between the nozzle 37 and the fan chamber 38, is formed bya bottom plate face with wedge-shaped projections at spaced points whichare adapted to cooperate with the dove-tail slots to slidingly supportthe lip. These wedge-shaped projections are in- *7 shaped arm 53 israised or lowered and the front wheels and the rear wheels, being heldin synchronous adjustment by means of the arms 58, 58,- are pivotedupwardly or downwardly about their pivot points comprising the axles.50, 50 and 56, respectively. If the front wheels are pivoted forwardlyand up- 'wardly, resulting in the lowering of the nozv zle, the leverarms 59, 59 are also moved for- Wardly, resulting in the, forwardmovement of the rear lip which is connected to the levers 59, 59 thruthe links 65, 65. Upon the raising of thenozzle, which is accomplishedby the rotation of member 54 in the opposite direction, the front wheelsare lowered and moved to the rear and the rearward movement of the rearlip results. With the nozzle in the low position the nozzle width is asindicated by the length of the line bearing the reference character X inFigure 3, and with the nozzle in the raised position the rear lip isretracted until the nozzle width is as indicated by the referencecharacter Y. Iclaim," 1-. In a suction cleaner a body including anozzle, a movable lip on said nozzle defining one side of a nozzlemouth, means to raise and lower said body relative to asu'pportingsurface, and means operable upon the adjustment of said last mentionedmeans to move said lip to widen or narrow said nozzle mouth.

2. In a suction cleaner a body includingl a nozzle, an adjustable lip onsaid nozzle fining a side of the nozzle mouth, wheels supporting saidbody, means to position said mentioned meansto said adjustable lip to.

vary the'nozzle width upon adjustment of the nozzle height. 1

3. In a suction cleaner, a nozzle, spaced lips upon. said nozzledefining a mouth,

means supporting one of said lips for movement relative to the other,means supporting said nozzle above a surface covering undergoingcleaning, and'means to simultaneously vary the position of saidsupporting means relative to said nozzle and the position of the movablelip. a

4. In a suction cleaner, a'body having a nozzle, said nozzle beingprovided with a movable wall, means supporting said body, means toadjust said supporting means rela- 'tive to'said body to vary theposition of said nozzle, and means operable upon the adjustment of saidsupporting means to move said movable wall rearwardly or forwardlyrelative to said body.

5. In a suction cleaner, a nozzle, spaced lips defining the nozzlemouth, means slidingly supporting one of said lips for movement towardand from the remaining lip,- means supporting said nozzle above thesupporting surface, means to adjust said supporting means, and meansoperable upon the adjustment of said supporting means to slide said lip.

6. In a suction cleaner, anozzle, spaced lips defining the nozzle mouth,one of said lips mounted for movement toward and from the other lip,means supporting said nozzle above a surface covering undergoingcleaning, means to raise and lower said supporting means relative tosaid nozzle, and means operable to move said movable lip to increase thenozzle width upon the raising of said supports and to decrease thenozzle Width upon the lowering of said supports.

Signed at Chicago, in the county of Cook, and State of Illinois, this12th day of December 1931.

HOWARD EARL HOOVER.

